Niese mistake is costly for Mets

Published 11:52 pm, Saturday, June 16, 2012

NEW YORK — In their first Saturday prime-time game of the season, the Mets provided the kind of TV fare typical for June - a rerun.

It certainly wasn't one their fans enjoyed, either, as the Mets followed the same unsuccessful script from Friday. They fell behind early and were unable to mount a comeback as Cincinnati won for the second straight night, 4-1.

The listless game came after the Mets announced that left fielder Jason Bay had been placed on the seven-day concussion disabled list. Bay crashed into the left-field wall Friday night chasing a deep drive.

On Saturday, Jay Bruce hit a three-run homer into the upper deck on an 0-2 curve off Jon Niese (4-3) in the first inning. The night before, the Reds led, 4-0, in the third inning of a 7-3 win.

Homer Bailey (5-4) allowed one run over eight innings and hard-throwing Aroldis Chapman pitched a hitless ninth for his eighth save.

It was Bay's second concussion in less than two years. He suffered one July 23, 2010, when he crashed into the wall making a running catch at Dodger Stadium. He missed the final 63 games of that season.

Manager Terry Collins said Bay "has been told to stay home and rest for a day or so. I don't know what the schedule is to get him looked at" by a doctor.

When asked if Bay would be able to return in seven days, Collins said, "I would expect it to

be longer than that."

Bay dove for a long fly ball off Jay Bruce's bat in the second inning Friday night, skidded on the warning track and crashed headfirst into the left-field wall while Bruce circled the bases for an inside-the-park home run.

"I'm very worried about it because Jason's first one was pretty severe and he hit the wall pretty hard," Collins said. "He's pretty sore (Saturday), real sore. So we're just going to have to, again, bide our time and see how he comes out of it in the next few days and see how he feels."

Bay left Citi Field during the game and was not at the ballpark Saturday. Collins said he had not spoken with him, saying the team's medical staff didn't want anyone speaking with catcher Josh Thole when he was resting the day after he suffered a concussion at Philadelphia on May 7 in a home-plate collision with former Met Ty Wigginton. Thole was sidelined until June 1.

"They wanted (Thole) to just rest," Collins said, "so I figured that would be the same thing with Jason. We're home for nine days. I'm sure when he feels better he'll come to the ballpark."

"I know what he's feeling. I know what he's going through. It's not easy," Thole said. "It gets scarier because you go sit in the doctor's office and the doctor tells you you could be one (concussion) away from stuff you don't want to think about."

Thole said he was in such agony after his concussion that he and his wife left their Manhattan apartment and stayed with relatives in Maine for several days because the lights and noise of the city bothered him.

Scott Hairston started in place of Bay on Saturday, but Collins indicated he would "mix and match," stating that righty Hairston likely wouldn't start against right-hander Johnny Cueto on Sunday. Collins said he wants to get switch-hitter Andres Torres "going left-handed," which likely means he could start Torres in center field against some righties and move lefty-hitting Kirk Nieuwenhuis from center to left.

Bruce was hit in the arm by a pitch leading off the fourth and later scored on Ryan Ludwick's bloop single. Bailey hit Lucas Duda leading off the sixth, but the Mets were unable to capitalize despite having runners at first and second with none out.